Q&A: D. Carbone Set to Release New Industrial Techno Mini-Album

'Ravers' is scheduled for June 1 release via 3TH Records.

Italian techno artist D. Carbone is set to release a new mini-album under his own name.

Although the artist has spent 2015 honing the discographies of his other projects, Ravers comes after a silent year for the D. Carbone moniker which in turn gives it all the more impact.

The release is dedicated to everyone interested in the ecstatic sounds of ’90s rave culture as D.Carbone distances himself from the functional perception that techno indicates a fairly narrow tempo range. Instead, he approaches it more freely by returning to earlier formulations. The speed is higher than on the artist’s previous releases, varying from 137 to 160 BPM. It is about pushing the envelope and rejecting limitations, something that is reflected in the tracks that have been jammed out free of structural rigidness. Meanwhile, sound-wise, Ravers is classic D. Carbone: Noisy and acidic industrial techno where every single sound in the mix is subject to heavy distortion. Ahead of the release, we spoke with the artist.

Ravers is your first mini-album as D. Carbone. Why have you chosen to express yourself in this format rather than an EP? 2016 is my 10th year of producing music and I wanted a landmark in my career. Ravers is a conceptual techno release. Making a mini-LP gives the possibility to offer a more expanded project that can better explain my concept and to offer different approaches to hard driving techno.

On Ravers you’re freeing yourself from techno formulas and instead have a much freer approach, turning to ’90s rave sounds for inspiration and simultaneously working within a faster tempo range than on your previous releases. What are your motivations for doing this? Does this reflect new interests, or has the change of style been underway for a while? The main motivation behind it is to reject the market restrictions that afflict techno music nowadays. I wanted to go back to the years when music was not based on BPM range or quickly labeled with a genre. In the ’90s, techno and the whole field of electronic music was passing through a high range of BPMs, going from 80 to 200 BPM. Modern techno is stuck on heart-beat BPM, usually between 125 and 135, and the market is adding a lot of restrictions by releasing stuff that is safely playable, straight and in this slow BPM range so it can easily reach all people and be sold.

With this release I want to motivate young producers and the whole techno community to have a free approach to making music, and not to look only at trends or the market restrictions. All my friends and myself, we already offer something like this, and Ravers is totally dedicated to that side of rave culture, and people that love fast and hard driving techno. When it is club-oriented music, you have to let your body freely go crazy. The body must shake while the mind is tripping. That’s my view. I have always done faster music, but it has never been possible to release it on other labels. So yes, I have a new interest: I want techno to go back to its freer form like it was in the beginning. Feel the Rave!

What music has influenced the sound of the release—both when speaking of ’90s rave sounds and what contemporary music? There is a particular year that is relevant for me and it is the 1992. It is the year of Waveform Transmission Vol.1 by Jeff Mills; where X-102 started and Discovers the Rings of Saturn was released; where Bunker Records was born in Holland; CJ Bolland was releasing The 4th Sign and most of the best acid tracks came out in that time. There is a real meaning behind all these things coming out in that time. Techno was without restrictions; it was growing in that time and made by passionate people and without looking at what the market was asking for. I’m sorry, but I can not find any inspiration for my music in the modern era. I’m doing music and I have always done a lot of different kinds without looking to a specific genre, speaking about all the music I have done. I prefer to look at the vibe of a track, a live set or what a DJ set can give to people. It must be an emotional exchange.

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